The paper presents the results of research regarding positive consequences of gainful emigration of farmers.
The research was conducted within the area of 10 mountain communes within the region of the Carpathian
Mountains in the territory of Poland and Ukraine. Multi-criteria method AHP was used for the purpose of the
analysis and the author focused on the population’s mobility in three main areas: economic, environmental
and agricultural, and social. The importance of migration processes were stressed in the transformations of
the functioning of the affected mountain areas. Balancing adverse social effects with the economic activation
of households in those areas may become a factor that helps reduce depopulation in the mountain areas and
create an opportunity for the development of Carpathian villages as part of a multi-functional model.